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Nurses At D.C.’s Largest Hospital Begin Strike

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Nurses are continuing to picket outside Washington’s largest hospital as part of a one-day strike over wages and patient care.

A spokesman for the nurses’ union says hundreds of nurses have walked the picket line Friday at Washington Hospital Center.

But a hospital spokeswoman says participation in the strike is far from unanimous. Spokeswoman So Young Pak says about two-thirds of the 300 or so nurses scheduled to work the day shift Friday showed up for work.

The strike ends at 7 a.m. Saturday. The hospital plans to lock out the striking nurses for another four days, saying that’s because replacement nurses are being paid for an entire week’s work.

Pak says the hospital was actually overstaffed Friday and that more than 100 surgeries were performed. There were more than 700 patients at the hospital.